Chongqing History & Culture
(Source: english.cqnews.net)
Chongqing is located at the center of the ancient Bayu Area which is also the birthplace of Bayu Culture, a historical and cultural city in China with more than 3,000 years of history. About 20-30 thousand years ago, human beings had moved to the Chongqing area, thereby starting Chongqing's long history.
Name Origin of Chongqing
Chongqing is located at the confluence of the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers and is nestled among the gently sloping surrounding mountains. The name of the city has changed several times. Former names include Jiangzhou, Ba Shire, Chuzhou, Yuzhou and Gongzhou, kingdoms, shires, prefectures and counties. Most names involved the name Ba because Chongqing was the center of the Ba Kingdom which was established by Ba ethnic groups and local aborigines who were conquered in the areas near the Yangtze, Wujiang and Jialing rivers. The Wendi Emperor of the Sui Dynasty (581-618) changed Chuzhou to Yuzhou and the mountainous city was called Yu for short for a long while. In the year 1189, Song (960-1279) Guangzong was crowned as Gong King and the emperor of the whole country. He renamed Gongzhou to Chongqing, meaning “double gaiety”.
Ba Kingdom
Western Sichuan was called Ba Fang during the Xia Dynasty (21st - 16th century BC) and Ba Dian during the Shang Dynasty (16th - 11th century BC). Ba Dian delivered a tribute to the Shang Court every year. Ba people did not accept oppression under the Shang and bravely joined the Zhou (11th century BC - 221BC) Army in a crusade against the last king of the Shang Dynasty. Shang was finally defeated and the Ba group was authorized to be Ba Kingdom, one of the 71 vassal states of the Western Zhou. Chongqing was approved to be its capital during the 11th Century BC.
The Ba Kingdom reached its heyday from the last years of the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC - 476 BC) to the late Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC), during which it's bronze culture had reached its zenith. However, the fortification of Chongqing didn’t start until 316 BC according to the annals of history. At that time, Ba and Shu rivaled each other and Ba asked for help from the Qin State. The Qin conquered the Shu Kingdom and spared Ba Kingdom. The general of the Qin troop, Zhang Yi, conducted major construction projects. He was the first person in history to truly build the city including the impressive fortification of Chongqing. As of the year 316 BC, of the middle Warring State period, the Ba Kingdom had existed for 800 years.
|
